Latest by Christopher Whitehouse
Injunction granted over stolen NFTs held on constructive trust
In a highly anticipated judgment, the Commercial Court in Lavinia Deborah Osbourne v (1) Persons Unknown (2) Ozone Networks Inc held that "there is at least a realistically arguable case" that non-fungible tokens ('NFTs') are to be treated as property in English Law.
Read moreIs the crypto market at the end of its Tether?
The crashing out of Terra has unleashed fears of unsettled investors, rising disputes and fraud exposure.
Read moreHigh Court finds that a cryptocurrency exchange arrangement was not a trust
The High Court decided that no trust could arise where two parties had agreed to an exchange of cryptocurrencies (in essence a sale and repurchase agreement), as the essential economic reciprocity precluded the existence of any trust.
Read moreCrypto-assets again confirmed as property by the English Commercial Court
In the Commercial Court's latest crypto-related judgment, Fetch.AI(1), a proprietary injunction and worldwide freezing order were granted against various categories of persons unknown who had misappropriated various crypto-assets from one of the claimant's Binance trading accounts. In doing so, the Court agreed with the key finding in the seminal case AA v Persons Unknown, Re Bitcoin [2019] EWHC 3556 (Comm) – that bitcoin is 'property' – albeit it did so on a different basis.
Read moreCommercial Court cracks down on crypto-fraudsters (if it can find them)
In the first initial coin offering 'ICO' fraud case before the Commercial Court, Ion Science Limited & Duncan Johns v Persons Unknown & Ors, the court granted permission to serve disclosure orders on two cryptocurrency exchanges through which the claimants' stolen bitcoin had been traced, granted a world-wide freezing order against persons unknown, and gave ground-breaking guidance on the lex situs of crypto-assets.
Read moreNo interim injunction over bitcoin account where damages would be adequate
The court has declined to continue interim injunctions granted in respect of a 'coin depot account' holding bitcoin over which the claimants asserted a proprietary right.
Read moreBitcoin is 'property' and can therefore be subject of proprietary injunction
Following recent case law on the matter, the High Court has found that bitcoin can be 'property' and can therefore be the subject of a proprietary injunction.(1) In reaching its conclusion, the court adopted the detailed analysis of the issue set out in the UK Jurisdictional Task Force's November 2019 Legal Statement on Crypto-Assets and Smart Contracts, thereby providing a far more detailed judicial basis for the finding than found in previous cases. The bitcoins at the heart of this case were part of a ransom payment paid to a hacker who installed malware on a company's IT systems.
Read morePrevention principle – can parties sue for breach of contract occasioned by their own breach?
According to the High Court in TMF Trustee Ltd v Fire Navigation Inc, the prevention principle can excuse a breach of contract when a party has been prevented from performing the relevant obligation by a breach of the other party.
Read moreGame theory and the art of litigation strategy - Article 4
Escaping the Hobbesian Trap – the impact of aggression in litigation settlement strategy
Read moreWhat are the circumstances in which acting in breach of EU sanctions will kill a claim?
An Iranian oil company was defrauded in a failed attempt to circumvent EU sanctions - does its claim survive the Patel v Mirza illegality test?
Read moreISDA agreement wins jurisdiction clause battle in Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal recently confirmed that an English jurisdiction clause in the underlying International Swaps and Derivatives Association Master Agreement under which certain swaps were made should be applied to disputes relating to the swap transactions, rather than an Italian jurisdiction clause in a competitor agreement governing the parties' generic relationship
Read moreThat's not fair (market value)
Court of Appeal rules on application of GMRA close-out provisions in a distressed market. Icelandic bank LBI ehf (LBI) appealed against the High Court decision in its case against Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RZB) regarding the interpretation of the term "fair market value" in the close-out provisions of a repo agreement. The Court of Appeal rejected LBI's arguments that "fair market value" should preclude the use of prices, quotations and other pricing evidence obtained in a distressed or illiquid market and dismissed the appeal.
Read moreGame theory and the art of litigation settlement (Part 3)
This article is the third in a series targeted at litigators that consider the issue of settlement in litigation through a game theoretical lens.
Read moreGame theory and the art of litigation settlement (Part 2)
This article is the second in a series targeted at litigators that consider the issue of settlement in litigation through a game theoretical lens.
Read moreGame theory and the art of litigation settlement
This article is the first in a series targeted at litigators that consider the issue of settlement in litigation through a mathematical lens.
Read moreLitigation privilege: whose privilege?
The claimants, companies in the corporate group of the mining company MMG, applied to inspect certain documents created in foreign proceedings over which the defendants, companies belonging to the mining company Glencore, asserted litigation privilege.
Read moreDocuments from which legal advice can be inferred – are they privileged?
The High Court considered the extent to which legal advice privilege could attach to documents which were not communications of legal advice between lawyer and client but from which privileged legal advice could be inferred and held that privilege could indeed apply to such documents. The test is whether there is a "definite and reasonable foundation" for such an inference to be made as opposed to material that would merely make the reader speculate what the legal advice was.
Read moreFootball agent scores a victory in loss of a chance case
The Court of Appeal upheld the appeal of a licensed football agent who alleged Sports and Entertainment Media Group had induced a professional footballer to breach an agency contract with him, which had deprived him of the fee he would have earned.
Read moreAcceptance or a counter-offer - what relevance are communications after the fact?
In Caroline Gibbs v Lakeside Developments the High Court held that an email purporting to accept a settlement offer but attaching a consent order specifying a different payment date was not an acceptance but a counter-offer.
Read more'Disproportionate' disclosure application denied in swaps mis-selling claim
In Claverton Holdings Ltd v Barclays Bank plc, the Commercial Court rejected an application by the claimant for specific disclosure against the defendant bank.
Read moreThe better part of discretion is – an implied term?
In Portsmouth City Council v Ensign Highways Ltd [2015] EWHC 1969 (TCC), the High Court implied a term imposing limits on a party's contractual discretion, ...
Read moreReflective loss – Court of Appeal decision mirrors the position in Gardner v Parker
In the case of Malhotra v Malhotra & Anor[1], the claimant, Mr Rakesh Malhotra, had given a cross-undertaking in damages in support of a without notice injunction, which was later discharged.
Read moreLitigation privilege – a cautionary tale
In Starbev GP Ltd v Interbrew Central European Holding BV [2013] EWHC 4038 (Comm), the Claimant, Starbev GP Ltd ("Starbev"), successfully challenged the claim of the Defendant, Interbrew Central European Holding BV ("ICEH"), to withhold inspection of two categories of documents on the ground of litigation privilege.
Read moreDiscretion to stay - exclusive jurisdiction clauses and foreign proceedings
In Nomura International Plc v Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena SpA [2013] EWHC 3187 (Comm), ...
Read moreSilence can be expensive - the dangers of ignoring an opponent's ADR Request
In PGF II SA v OMFS Co [2013] EWCA Civ 1288, the Court of Appeal extended the guidelines set out in Halsey v Milton Keynes General NHS Trust[1]
Read moreGreater than the sum of their parts – Belbin’s Analysis of Teams
“Team Roles at Work” by Meredith Belbin is an almost scientific analysis of the different roles individuals can play in a team, how they interact with one another and how highly functional teams can be assembled.
Read moreNobody wants to buy sour milk
This folksy catchphrase is at the heart of the business model of the last decade's most wildly successful company: Apple Inc.
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